Inclusive Access Advice

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Alexis Carlson

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Mar 23, 2021, 7:20:49 PM3/23/21
to CCCOER Advisory Group, SPARC Libraries & OER Forum
My college has formed a committee to investigate using inclusive access models of textbook purchasing. We had our first committee meeting last week and I am not quite sure what they are trying to accomplish or what it means for a college to adopt inclusive access. I know about inclusive access and all the bad things, I have research to bring to the next meeting on Friday and plan to ask for a definition of what they think inclusive access means at that meeting. The committee is comprised of a variety of stakeholders on campus. I am in Florida which has adopted a statewide policy to opt-out for inclusive access. I tried asking what it means for the student/professor/course/registration at the first meeting if a student opts out of an IA book, what do they do if there is no alternative as many of the larger textbook companies are moving to online first and (soon only) for textbooks and many of the textbooks come with the complete package including quizzes, tests, PowerPoints, etc. that the student will not be able to access if they opt-out.

I also had a strange exchange where the bookstore manager was said that publishers offering IA for us have promised a 5-year access model to the textbooks as a blanket statement, does anyone believe that to be true? Are publishers approaching independent, college-run bookstores to adopt inclusive access in some way at the institution level? Does anyone use an inclusive access model for a course that includes a textbook only, have information to share about ADA compliance, or know how difficult/easy it is for the publisher to provide a print text for students who ask for it or require it as part of a disclosed disability?

Do any libraries purchase inclusive access textbooks in print for in-house use? Is that possible?

Thank you for any advice and/or stories I can share. I am gathering information I know about, but am not sure what it means for the college to form a college-wide committee to investigate whether or not to adopt.

Thanks,
Alexis

Andrew Park

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Mar 23, 2021, 7:29:51 PM3/23/21
to Alexis Carlson, CCCOER Advisory Group
Is "just saying no" an option?


I think for anyone on the fence, that there is pending litigation should be enough to say "no for now." If there is anyone on your campus who is, I don't know, super excited for these "programs" (I don't know who it would be, other than bookstore managers who are more of a salesperson than a service person), it might be a matter of educating those individuals privately that "inclusive access" is nothing it sounds like.


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Una Daly

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Mar 23, 2021, 8:28:08 PM3/23/21
to Andrew Park, Alexis Carlson, CCCOER Advisory Group
Hello Alexis,

We had a conversation on the list back in September when OpenStax was kicking off their #freethetextbook campaign that was all about “automated billing” aka “inclusive access”.  

I’m sure you’re aware of the wonderful reports from StudentPIRGS on this same topic as well.

Thanks for your work on behalf of our students!!
Una
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Una Daly
Director, CCCOER
Open Education Global

Check out our webinars: https://www.cccoer.org/webinar/




Cuillier, Cheryl A - (ccuillie)

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Mar 23, 2021, 9:59:21 PM3/23/21
to Alexis Carlson, CCCOER Advisory Group, SPARC Libraries & OER Forum

Hi Alexis,

 

The University of Arizona BookStores use inclusive access extensively and I wrote a book chapter about it in 2018, Inclusive Access: Who, What, When, Where, How, and Why?

 

Here’s some information I shared with the Open Education Network list a few months ago:

 

I was part of an OEN working group that developed some talking points on inclusive access. You can read them at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZttGL7Q8W04mooUDhOzj2ej-OrFXZJjRdXGfaTCtb3M/edit?ts=5f3d71f7 (and adapt them – they have a CC BY license).

 

I will say that inclusive access comes in a lot of flavors. I find the Cengage Unlimited plan more problematic than the inclusive access program that’s prevalent on my campus. Cengage Unlimited limits faculty’s academic freedom to choose any course materials they want. Our campus-owned bookstore’s inclusive access model also avoids the pitfalls highlighted in the excellent 2020 report by Kaitlyn Vitez and U.S. PIRG, “Automatic Textbook Billing: An Offer Students Can’t Refuse?” (our bookstore makes it easy for students to opt out, they partner with many different publishers, there are no publisher quotas for minimum opt-out rates).

 

I encourage UA faculty to consider inclusive access only after they’ve explored OER, library-licensed materials, and fair use options that offer free access to students. If OER aren’t available, unlimited-user ebook licenses aren’t an option (which is the case for more than 80% of our required textbooks), and faculty want to assign the entire book (so fair use is out), I do refer our faculty to the UA BookStores to explore inclusive access. The day-one online access is a benefit for our growing number of online/global courses as well as our 7.5-week courses.

 

With inclusive access, I do warn faculty to:

·         Aim for at least a 50% discount off the print list price (and watch for future price increases from semester to semester)

·         Watch out for publisher pressure to bundle the ebook with courseware

·         Be aware of the level of student surveillance that these platforms require

·         Know that this is basically a digital rental for students -- this can be problematic when students opt to retake a course for a higher grade, or if they want to keep the content for their future career. It’s also problematic for students who prefer print (that’s usually an additional cost).

 

OER can co-exist with inclusive access, but there are definitely IA pitfalls that campuses should be aware of.

 

I believe Florida actually has an opt-in policy (we have an opt-out policy, where the cost of inclusive access is added to students’ bursar accounts if they take no action). It’s great that you plan to ask for a definition of “inclusive access” and how exactly it would work on your campus.

 

It would also be good to clarify what a “5-year access model” means. Do students have any ability to print or download? (Probably not). They have access for 5 years? That may sound good, but how will that work realistically for students? On my campus, inclusive access is delivered through our learning management system and students lose access to their course site within a few months. In order to access an inclusive access ebook after that, they have to remember which publisher/vendor platform it was on and what their password is.

 

Our campus-owned bookstore does sell ebooks only through inclusive access; they’ll also bundle the ebook with courseware if that’s what the instructor requests. At your college, that would increase students’ likelihood of having to opt in (which is why faculty tell me that publishers encourage them to adopt courseware). If a student needs print due to a disability, we’d refer them to our Disability Resource Center. I know our DRC is able to get free electronic access to textbooks from publishers for students with disabilities; I haven’t had a student with disabilities request print before.

 

We don’t have print textbook reserves at the UA, so I can’t comment on whether print versions of inclusive access titles might be available for the library to buy. Our library is sometimes able to buy unlimited-user ebook licenses for titles that are also available through inclusive access. We work with our bookstore to let them know which ebooks we can provide to students for free (I believe they try to cancel the inclusive access in those cases – library ebooks are linked on UA students’ booklists with the bookstore).

 

Good luck!

 

Best,

Cheryl

 

Cheryl Cuillier, Open Education Librarian

Main Library A501

1510 E. University Blvd.

University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721

(520) 310-9874

ORCID: 0000-0002-6010-4405

 

 

From: lib...@sparcopen.org <lib...@sparcopen.org> On Behalf Of Alexis Carlson
Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2021 4:21 PM
To: CCCOER Advisory Group <cccoer-...@googlegroups.com>; SPARC Libraries & OER Forum <lib...@sparcopen.org>
Subject: [EXT][LibOER] Inclusive Access Advice

 

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